Syrian Kurdish authorities to free 25,000 Syrians from camp for Islamic State supporters

Al Hol camp holds nearly 70,000 Islamic State affiliates and their children

Credit: Sam Tarling

Syrian Kurdish authorities say they will release 25,000 Syrians from a detention camp for Islamic State affiliates and their families in a “general amnesty” aimed at relieving overcrowding and appeasing local Arab communities.

All Syrian nationals, mostly women and children, will be freed from Al Hol camp in Hassakeh province, the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council Ilham Ehmed told a public meeting in Raqqa on Saturday, without saying when this would occur.

The majority of the camp’s residents arrived early in 2019 after surrendering to Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces as the western-backed group captured the final Islamic State (IS) territory. The camp also holds about 30,000 Iraqis and over 10,000 foreigners from other countries. 

Camp residents complain of a lack of healthcare and insufficient food and water. Between December 2018 and July this year, 656 people died in the camp, most of whom were under five years old, according to the International Rescue Committee. 

The camp is dominated by the most extreme IS supporters, with insufficient guards to provide internal security. Residents report tent burnings, killings and other crimes. An unknown number of detainees have escaped from the camp, including at least one woman believed to be British.

Women shop in the marketplace at Al-Hol camp

Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

The detention of Syrian women and children in Al Hol has fuelled resentment in local Arab communities against the Kurdish-led authorities. Protests demanding their release were organised in August in Deir Ezzor province, where there is a low-level insurgency against the SDF.

Acknowledging these demands, Ms Ehmed said: “Hol Camp is a heavy burden on the shoulders of the AANES,” referring to the “autonomous administration of northeast Syria”.

“The AANES is not obliged to pay exorbitant sums in order to provide these people with food and other things, let alone [deal with] the problems that arise daily, including assassinations, rape, and so on.”

The Kurdish-led authorities have previously released hundreds of male Syrian IS-affiliates said to have “no blood on their hands” back to their local communities through a sponsorship programme, with tribal leaders vouching for released individuals.

The latest decision will not affect other nationalities in the camp, which holds a handful of British women and their children. 

The administration has previously said it would hold its own trials for foreign IS members.  Foreign nationals will be dealt with “through a ruling yet to be released”, said Ms Ehmed.